Build a Website Right From the Start
I often times see a brand new website get published without any search engine optimization efforts built into it prior. When a website is being built that is the perfect time to really apply all SEO related efforts so you don’t have to add an additional step to the entire process down the road.
Here are some areas that should be addressed while a website is being built:
Keyword Research: Conduct keyword research prior to building the website or during so you can use the data as ammo through the building process. Once you determine your navigation and your pages you will then be able to isolate which keywords you want to target for each page.
URL Structure: Once you have completed your keyword research you now have great data to build out your URL structures. When choosing your keywords during the building process you can now identify your targeted keywords and use them to increase your search engine optimization efforts through your URL structures.
Installing a Blog: If you where interested in having a blog on your website now is the time to install it. Do it while the developers and designers are inside the website so you can kill two birds with one stone. Having them do it later on will only cause more work and money for you.
Design Elements: With page load time being such a hot topic in today’s search marketing industry now is also a good time to keep in mind all the different widgets, scripts and images you use throughout your website. These design elements tend to slow things down so keep that in mind now while you are building rather than a year down the road.
Content Structure: For search engine optimization to really work how it is supposed to you have to have some decent content on your website. The minimalistic route is great but search engines need to be able to read what is in front of them. The only way they can do that is through the use of text. Keep space available for text and put it in place now rather than having to redesign pages later to make room for it. Oh, remember that keyword research we did in step 1? Yeah it is now time to apply those keywords to the content as well.
Meta Info: Each page of your website is going to have the ability for title tag information letting visitors know and understand what the topic is on a certain page before they even arrive their through a search engine. When a visitor views a link and snippet in the search results the link they are clicking on is the title tag information for that page. Apply custom meta information prior to publishing your website live for everyone so you can get the full benefit of the search engine optimization.
User Experience: If your web designer is great at design but not so much on the user experience side of things get someone to go along the side of your designer and help them implement various items that will keep people on your site. Things like videos, and social media communication tools to enhance the experience your visitor will have on the site.
Conversion Metrics:Conversion metrics are very important because they are going to translate directly into actions on your site. At the end of the day the ultimate goal of your website is to get your traffic converting one way or another. This could be through the means of a form, a phone number or a shopping cart. Regardless of what it is the website should have a goal with the design built around that goal. Don’t wait until you start marketing your website and find out you messed this part up.
14 Responses to “Build a Website Right From the Start”
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I agree 100%
Nailing your Keyword Research, planning your URL Structure and overall Content Structure is very important and can save thousands of dollars down the line if done properly upfront.
A little planning goes a very long way.
Great advice for someone starting a web site!
Hi Zen Profits and Diane,
Thanks for reading and your comments!
Take Care,
Nick
Nice article nick.It help us lot.
Nick
I agree, it’s funny how many people “just want a website” then complain that it doesn’t perform.
The foundations are imperative, and getting them right at the beginning makes a difference.
Cheers
Pete.
Yes..so many times clients come to me with a website without having done any keyword research. I don’t blame them..the homesteads of world focus on how easy it is to create your own website without mention of the web visibility as the main criteria.
Hi Nick, I have just started my new site and will be implementing these tips you have suggested. Thanks for the post.
Basics that everybody should implement!
Good Advice – I am building a site from scratch now on my own with almost no manpower budget so having to do everything myself and learning a lot on the way…slow page loading was my 1st butt kicking lesson learnt the hard way so I have to attend to that still!
keep it up – your articles help a lot of people like me out there, I was an SEO writer for a while and realized how many one-man-bands there are out there on the internet useful resources are hard to find!
thanks
Tim
Nick,
You are spot on with your assessment. You must prepare ahead of time to maximize your efforts. Sadly most do not. I enjoy your tips and gave me some thoughts around URL structure.
I realized that if the site is new, just created, then it is better to a certain time does not advance, to avoid the filters
I also agree 100%. Unfortunately many people still go directly to web designers and then once the site is live start considering SEO.
It is so much more difficult to optimize a site once it is developed especially as the customer can’t understand why they need to pay again for something they assumed the web designer took into consideration during the design stage.
This is a great post – i wish i would have read it before i started – but… i`m still learning.
Everyone need SEO and when starting a site optimizing from the start would sure make a difference.
I`m still catching up in this regard.
Thanks Nick
Have a great day!
Thanks everyone for the comments and for reading!
Take Care,
Nick